Mini-Heart Cheesecake

For Valentine's Day, I bought a mini spring-form pan in the shape of a heart to make a cheesecake for my boyfriend. I found an Italian cheesecake recipe on Foodnetwork.com and changed a few things.

Mini-Heart Cheesecake Recipe

2 ounces graham crackers (finely ground in a food processor)

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 oz fresh whole milk ricotta cheese

4 oz regular cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup sugar (or a little less)

1 tablespoon clover honey

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 whole egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap the mini heart shaped spring-form pan in 2 layers of foil, making sure that the foil comes far above the top of the pan (this ensure that no water enters the pan when baking). Finely grind the crackers in a food processor.  Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are moistened.  Press the crumb mixture over the bottom of the pan (not the sides). Bake until the crush is golden, about 10 minutes.  Cool the crust comp

letely.

Blend the ricotta cheese in a clean food processor until smooth.  Add the cream cheese and sugar, blend well.  Add the honey and orange zest, blend again.  Add the egg and pulse until just blended.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan.  Place the pan in a roasting dish.  Pour enough hot water into the roasting dish to come halfway up the sides of the heart pan.  Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake m

oves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 40-50 minutes.

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 1 hour.  Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.  Serve with strawberries.